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Max Jamelli
United States
Chambersburg
Pennsylvania
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The countdown continues with #19 The Pillars of the Earth. This is a game I rate 8.8 / 10.
It was WBC 2008. I had spent my first full week at the convention in many years. I also had some extra birthday money to spend on games. One of the games I was iffy about buying was Pillars of the Earth. The main reason was the price tag. $45 was the most I had spent on a game up to that point but I remembered reading good things about Pillars on BGG so I bucked up. It was a good move.
Scott Nicholson did a great video that you can check out here and I was able to learn the rules of play from it.
What says a lot about Pillars is it's been sitting unplayed on my shelf for over a year, but it still ranks among the top games that Jen and I like. According to my combined rankings geeklist Pillars comes in ranked #3. I think a lot of Jen's rating goes into the fact that she's read the book. As I look over that list though, the games that we do play together more often are games that are high on the list, but somewhat more re-playable. As far as worker placement games go, Pillars was one of the first I tried and it really opened me up to the genre.
Pillars, by itself, is a very good game. What really pushes it over the top is the expansion - The Pillars of the Earth Expansion Set. With the additional cards, it's tougher to "script" the game and it really adds to the re-playability - even in a 2P situation.
Why I like it?
I can go either way on the first phase where you send your workers out. I really enjoy the mechanic of the master builders. Being the first out of the bag allows you to go anywhere you want on the board, but at a steep cost. It reminds me of the NFL draft. Sure if you pick #1 you can get anyone you want, but they are going to command the highest salary. Skipping a turn opens up an opportunity for an opponent to maybe come in and take what you considered to be the best option - or maybe they take a spot that you weren't thinking about and you save some money. It's a real cat and mouse mechanic that I find very enjoyable.
I like that the game has a "routine". It makes the game much easier to learn. I like that there are multiple paths to take to try to score points - especially using the expansion cards.
I was able to play a few games with my father on BSW. I liked the online implementation, but I don't game on BSW very often so it was rare that my dad and I played this.
What I don't care about:
I'm meh on the theme. Scott Nicholson does a great job of poking fun at the "building of the cathedral" and the big block pieces. It doesn't detract from the game for me, but it's not something I look forward to dealing with. Now - I can appreciate what many gamers have done with their copies. Looking through the creative gallery here you can see some awesome work.
Final Thoughts
When I look over my shelf looking for a game to suggest playing with Jen, I often look at Pillars knowing how much she likes it - but the more I think about it, I think I would rather play it with more than 2. My favorite part of the game, the Master Builder draft, is much more tense with more players. Still though, Pillars of the Earth is a very fun game.
Extra Thoughts
My sister bought The Pillars of the Earth: Builders Duel for me for Christmas. It was the first game I played in 2011 and it really plays well for me. I can thank Tom Vasel for teaching me how to play this one. The tic-tac-toe mechanic and chip flipping battle mechanic make this one very unique and #22 (currently) on Jen and my combined rankings list.
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